Underneath a Blue Umbrella
by Eunicidae
Summary: Kobayashi Suzume knows what death is. She's lived through it. The accident, the hospital, the waiting, the dreaded news, the slight shake of the doctor's head, the funeral, the mourning. She also knows what romance is, and that it isn't easy. Especially when it hides under the shadow of first love. (Kaidoh/OC)


**A/N: Hey guys! This is my second fanfic, and hopefully I'll be able to update it more often than my last one. Thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis**

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**Prologue:**

"Wait!...Your bento!" I whipped my head around, the loose strands of my braid slapping me in the face. _25 minutes to live... _

"Thanks," I say, my voice muffled by the piece of toast stuffed halfway down my throat. My grandmother stands in the doorway, a light blue clothed box in her hands. She sighs and pulls me in for a kiss, the top of my head barely reaching her chin.

"Have fun at school, okay?" The crow's feet webbing out from her eyes deepen when she smiles, "My little Suzume, starting middle school already. It won't be long before you're off to University and forget all about this sickly old lady back home."

"Grandma," I roll my eyes, "Don't make weird jokes. How could I forget about you? You're my only family."

"You never know," she teases, winking at me, "Bye, then. Be home before 6." She disappears into the house and I can hear her humming _Kumari _by Mr. Children. _  
_

"Chibi!" I stumble and almost fall when something slams into my calves. I turn around to see a boy with messy brown hair grinning at me. Wonderful, my clumsy childhood friend just bought a bike.

"What, Shuu-chan?" I ask warily.

"I haven't seen you all break. Have you grown much?" He smirks. At the second mention of my height, I can feel something in me snap.

"My, my, Shuichiro-sama, it seems like you've finally learned how to ride a bike. Pray tell, who was this genius sensei that taught the boy who broke both his arms when tripping over a branch how to pedal with both feet?"

He glares at me, "My cousins in Hokkaido taught me over spring break."

"Not very well," I say dryly, rubbing the wheel-shaped imprints of blue-black that were starting to form on the back of my legs. He moves his backpack to hang on the front handlebars of his bike and grins mischievously, "Need a ride?" _10 minutes..._

I raise an eyebrow, "Are you sure?"

He mimics me and arches one brow as well, "I am sure."

"Okay, then." I step onto the metal racket suspended above the back wheel, holding onto his shoulders for support.

He looks back at me and smiles, "Hold on." He pushes off and I laugh as he teeters from side to side, trying to find his balance.

"How about you sit down?" Shuu-chan manages to find steady pace, although the front wheel still jerks about unsteadily.

"Can't. The seat's wet."

"Sit on the handlebars then." I jump off and he staggers about, unused to the missing weight. When he manages to come to a stop, he shifts his backpack from the front of the bike to the back seat, before sweeping his hands across the front of the bike, like a footman opening a door. I put one hand on a handle and hoist myself onto the stem of the bike. 5_ minutes..._

"Here..we..go!" I can feel Shuu-chan's chin resting on my shoulder and I lean back against his head, his hair tickling my face as the spring breeze blows tufts of it against my cheeks. He smells of mocha green tea and warm spring rain. I remember why I slept so late last night. I was prepping my confession. To him. But right now, with his scent surrounding me and his cheek touching mine, my mind draws a blank. Screw the script. I've known him for 10 years, and I can do a stupid confession.

"Shuu-chan?" I twist my face up to meet his eyes.

"Mmm...?"

"..." I struggle to think the speech I spent hours laboring on. I could remember fragments of it. 'You've always taken care of me...', '...memories of you,'...etc. But all of that was just cliche. And obvious. Did I need to say it? _1 minute..._

"What, Suzu-chan?"

"I like you," I blurt it out quickly, the missing link. His eyes travel down to meet mine and he smiles. In that moment, his hair settling around him in the wind, face completely relaxed, I see the quiet reliability in those warm brown eyes, and realize he's never looked more handome. He bites his lip and grins even wider. I can only hope it's the reaction I'm looking for. _2 seconds..._

"I-SUZUME!" I glance up and see a flash of grey. A warm pair of arms pulls me from the front of the bike and I fall backwards into someone's lap. The scent of mocha green tea and spring rain envelops me, and then there is nothing. _Time of death...7:45 A.M._

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***_Flashback* -2 years ago-_**

_"Suzume!" _

_A girl with long, braided caramel hair turns to see who just called her name.__"What, Shuu-chan?" _

_"Look what I found!" A __cute __boy with honest brown eyes extends his hand. A beetle scuttles around his palm frantically and the girls around him shriek._

_"Honestly, Shuu-chan!" The girl with the twin braids seems unfazed, and she swats his hand, letting the bug fall to the ground who promptly starts to burrow deep into the mud. She sticks both hands on her hips and says bossily, "Go play with your hooligan friends, and leave us alone." She has just learned the word 'hooligan' from one of her textbook-sized novels, and is eager to use it, the unfamiliar pronunciation rolling around in her mouth like tasting a new candy. __Although she looks quite un-intimadating, standing at a mere height of 134 cm, there is a certain flare to her, and a pushy, imperious tone in her voice. _

_"Whatever, Suzume," He kicks up a tuft of dirt and sulks away, visibly upset. She feels guilty, but doesn't say a word. 'He needs to grow up,' she concludes, turning back to chat with her group of 'school friends'. _

_The walk home is silent, and they stay a half-block apart, with Suzume glancing around every so often to check his expression. A drop of water hits her nose and she looks up. _

_"Huh, it doesn't look like it's going to-" *Whoosh* The next second, she is soaked all the way through. The 10-year old looks dismally down at her drooping uniform. A dark shadow blocks the sun, oddly still shining bright as ever. She doesn't have to look, she knows it's him. Suzume shuffles closer to avoid the rain and Shuichiro grips the handle of his umbrella tighter. _

_"We should go home," Shuu-chan says, face bright red._

_"Good, that's where I'm heading," Suzume smiles and slips an arm through his. The faint smell of spring rain forms a cloud around her, and she wonders whether the sweet scent is from the storm, or from him. It doesn't matter, and she huddles up even closer. His cheeks turns crimson, and he looks away, although a goofy grin marks his face._

_She tugs at the hem of his shirt and he glances down at her, __"What, Suzu-chan?"_

_"...nothing," She says, meeting his eyes. _

_There is the saying: People look at blue eyes, but they look into brown eyes. It was not the first time Suzuna Kobayashi looked into her best friend's eyes, but it was the first time she saw something more than friendship in them._

**_*End of Flashback*_**

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**Present Day**

"Sh-Shuichiro?...Shuu-chan?" My eyes flutter open barely a second later. I sit up and look down. My best friend is lying next to me, still in the position he was in when we fell, my body still fitting perfectly into the gap between his arms.

"Shuu-chan?" I shake him slightly, "Shuu-chan?! No..no...no...Shuu-chan! NO! Shuu-chan! Shuu-chan! Shuu-chan!" I scream his name, and shake him harder, hoping he's just knocked out, that the blood caked to his head is just a small cut, that he's okay. I just want him to be okay.

"Shuu-chan! Shuu-chan! No! Shuu-chan! Just...just...Shu-chan! O-open you eyes...please...Please! Shuu-chan! Shuu-" Someone I don't know, speaking with words that I can't comprehend at this moment pulls me away and I whisper one last time, "Shuu-chan..."

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**A/N: So, that was the first chapter! Well, the prologue. Sorry if it seems like it has nothing to do with PoT, the real story comes later. **


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